Jake Sullivan.....Biden’s National Security Advisor....spoke up and said: "The American people are safer and the country is better off than we were four years ago."
I paused over this comment from yesterday.
Safer? NO.
Better? There's some pause for me over this. Things are more expensive, and every week....I see some company dissolving.
There should be some alcoholic beverage for moments like this....do four shots of something when a Biden-dope says stuff like this....to relax the mind.
I worked with a officer (in my AF years) that was hooked into a master's degree program, and he was taking a risk analysis course. So we got into a discussion one day in the vault.
He laid out the mental side of chaos....where people are just overly consumed when massive events occur in their life. In the initial week....they simply absorb the 'mess'....trying to understand things. Around the 10th day of this reflection....you start looking for a way out....a 'path'. By day thirty....you want to forget about the initial problem, and get as far away from the mess as possible.
In this LA fire situation....by the end of the first day of reality....where you've been to the home and found nothing exists. You call your insurance agent....realizing now that of his 5,000 clients....you are number 2,003 in line.
Around 72 hours after your contact...someone from out-of-state calls you...from the insurance company. They want to assure you of 'things-working'. The package is discussed, and they warn you that these settlements take time. Then they remind you....your coverage was 'X', and the maximum check they can write is $.2-million. Then they make it sound great that they are giving you a check now for $20,000 to cover temporary living expenses.
Then you ask....how will you get the check....since the mailbox situation is non-existent? There's a long pause...the agent isn't sure. 'More to come' is the response.
Four days pass, and you get another call....they have a camper-office at such-and-such address.....if you stop by....the check will be issued.
So you get the $20k check and discover that the bank building you typically used....burned down. The next alternate site? That burned as well. You end up driving 12 miles to a operating bank....only to find that they will cash the check but you can only have $2,000 in funds until the 7th day.
This is where you start to grumble.
You start to talk to construction folks about rebuilding. They let you know....just getting a permit might be two years (minimum). Then you get into a discussion about the old home value of $1.75-million....can't be built for that price in this atmosphere. You need to start assuming (with their advice)....once the new house is built....the final bill will be near $2.9-million.
So you drive to the bank to talk loans. It's a mix of positive talk and depressing views. This is the day that you drive to the local motel where you, the wife and two kids are staying. You consume a fair amount of booze that night.
The next day....you get up and the wife wants to have a 'Jesus-moment' conversation.....asking why are we staying here?
Over the next 24 hours....you linger over the idea....maybe this is it (the exit from California). You realize that even if you rebuild....another fire was possible because of the idiot way that the city and county function.
So when April comes and the final check is written....you load everyone up in the car, and like some moment out of John Steinbeck's 'Grapes of Wrath'...you are taking the family back to Missouri, Kansas, or Iowa. The $2-million check? Well...it goes a long ways, and a regular home in Iowa runs $300,000.
A year passes and you quietly admit....life is different. You live around city/county administrators who seem to be competent. Stress is less. You miss the weather but things are better than ever.
My humble view is that the Prime Minister of Greenland (Múte B. Egede) will have a face-to-face meeting with President Trump within four weeks of the inauguration. Egede will return to Greenland and within two weeks....announce that two matters will be pursued by the end of 2025.
First, a exit-plan and vote to leave Denmark....to be a independent country, with second ballot on the same day to determine if they remain within the EU or stay totally independent. This will happen by late 2025.
Second, a second vote will occur in early 2026....assuming they exit Denmark...on one of three options: (1) stay independent but build a close trade relationship with the US, (2) opt for a US territory/state situation, or (3) build a EU/US trade relationship while being independent.
On exiting Denmark....I'll go and predict that it passes by a factor of 75-percent or more.
The ballot to stay within the EU? Closer to 50-50.
Finally, I'm not convinced of the public there wanting a US-statehood situation. No one has ever polled folks, and while there is a fair amount of anti-Denmark negativity....I think people mostly want a independent status (like Iceland).
1. Over the next four weeks....a massive legal effort (over 1,000 lawyers) will start up....uing the city, county and state....to a tune of $500-billion. Insurance companies will be behind the effort to some degree.
About a week into this episode....tax-payers from the state...wake up and realize that while the city and county has 'some' insurance....it won't cover more than 2-percent of the amount. So the reality is...if the case concludes successfully....the city, county and state would be bankrupt unless NEW taxes come forth.
This will in turn....trigger people in California who had no participation in this....to stress out, pack-up, and exit the state by the end of 2025.
2. We will discover that countless numbers of 'IDIOTS' are city or county employees and have no idea what their function is, but they make $120k to $200k yearly.
3. The public will discover the chief of water services was just a 'empty-suit', and highly unqualified for the job.
4. By April, the mayor will agree that she can't carry out her function because of the negativity. The city council arranges a temporary measure....with the public realizing that they simply shifted one empty-suit bureaucrat for another empty-suit bureaucrat.
5. Some wealthy billionaire will buy up property for his own personal reservoir, with aa desalinization plant drawing in sea-water to fill his 'tank'. He'll then offer to sell the water to the state at some massive cost in emergencies.
Simple answer....yes.
However, in this wording, he has to say something about the anticipated crime that a investigation would be about. For example....the pardon might not cover bribes in the time period, or tax issues.
If he fails to cover 100-percent of the crime? Then the pardon has limited to zero value.
On top of this problem with Biden....if you come out later to find that Biden's mental capacity was a problem....then the pardon is of zero value.
So after 20 January....I anticipate some state AGs....will be going to court, and President Trump will nullify all of the pardons and executive orders....leaving a massive court mess for the Supreme Court to spend five years....cleaning up.
I sat and read over a LA real estate story.....some real estate folks are talking to Governor Newsom. What they desire? As rebuilding comes up....they want chunks of the neighborhoods which are designated as single-family homes....changed over to multi-family 'homes' (meaning apartments/condos). Newsom.....says little about this idea so far.
Some belief that new Californians (migrants)....that would be moving in? Maybe.
But I sat pondering this.....two issues.
First, building permits are a mess even before the fire, and it'll triple-up after the fire.
Second, insurance companies aren't likely to cover these regions ever again....so even if you get permits to build....what bank would sign on if the insurance situation isn't stable?
Maybe there are idiot real estate people in this game....thinking things will come out positive.
But once you sit and start talking about the Costal Commission, the building-permit folks, the banks to arrange mortgages, and the insurance lacking? It's a joke.
